Magazine Archive

WELCOME NOTE

In it to win it

Over the past month, we’ve been ramping up the marketing and communications for this year’s National Pub & Bar Awards – you may have noticed?
If the event is new to you, here’s a quick description: this on-trade celebration sets out to crown the best venue in every county of the UK – that’s 94 County Winners in total. Those outstanding outlets are then invited for a big ol’ party down at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly in London on Wednesday 22 May, where they not only get to celebrate being the best in their area, but each pub and bar will then find out if they’re a Regional Winner or the overall National Pub & Bar of the Year. It’s a wonderful evening of nothing but winning jubilation.
If you haven’t seen our messaging on pubandbar.com or in the magazine, I ought to tell you that ENTRIES ARE OPEN! We’ve put together a very simple online entry form, which can be accessed at nationalpubandbarawards.co.uk. Head to that site, fill in your details and tell us why you think you’re running the best pub in your county. Easy as that.
Personally, my favourite part of running this UK-wide competition is hearing all about the impact it has on the winning venues. When a single-site operator tells you that a National Pub & Bar Award win has lifted their weekly sales by 40%, it’s hard not to feel quite proud of the part we’ve played in that. Of course, the fact that the post-event coverage does the rounds in the national press, as well as in trade, certainly helps. Even so, if our Awards can mirror the mantra of the magazine and deliver the same business-building support we endeavour to provide through every issue, then that’s a job well done for the Pub & Bar team. If you’d like to put yourself forward for a National Pub & Bar Award this year, make sure you do so before the entry deadline on Friday 29 March. After all, you’ve got to be in it to win it.
Tristan O’Hana - Editor